New Jersey Transit passengers were shocked Thursday morning to see a bull on the loose, running on the train tracks in Newark.
Reports of the random animal sighting began pouring in around 10:30 a.m. from Newark Penn Station, with passengers on the platforms capturing the peculiar sight with their phones.
A video recorded from one platform shows the confused bull trotting down the tracks as an even more confused station announcer says over the intercom that the train has been delayed “due to a…obstruction on the track.”
Footage of Bull at Newark – Penn Station@NJTRANSIT @Amtrak @PIX11News
(Footage not mine) pic.twitter.com/fazpH8dtUt— Raphael Snow (@WartimeEngines) December 14, 2023
Another humorous video, dubbed with rock band Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town,” shows a closer angle of the bull heading down the tracks.
There’s a bull on the tracks at Newark, NJ, Penn Station.
New Jersey transit says the bull is causing delays between Newark Penn Station and NY Penn Station. pic.twitter.com/UE3zznQAwH
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) December 14, 2023
NJ Transit even got in on the fun, jokingly referring to the bull as “police activity” on X.
NJ TRANSIT rail service is subject to up to 45 minute delays between Newark Penn and PSNY, due to Police activity near Newark Penn Station. NJ TRANSIT rail tickets and passes are being cross-honored by PATH and Hoboken, Newark Penn and 33rd Street New York.
Police activity: pic.twitter.com/XrtIEK5ZGH
— NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) December 14, 2023
“I thought maybe it was a Red Bulls PR stunt or something like that, considering the stadium was right there. But yeah, he was just trotting along. We were just trying to figure out…where it came from,” said one passenger to ABC7.
Multiple agencies, including police, collaborated to find the animal and corral it inside a fenced lot near Newark Liberty International Airport.
The local outlet reported that the bull was safely tranquilized and taken to Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue, where he was named “Ricardo.”
Questions remain as to where the bull came from and how it got onto the train tracks.
